subs. (colloquial).—1. A difficult or disagreeable position; a plight. Hence, A CASE OF PICKLES = a bad breakdown; a serious quandary.
1609. SHAKESPEARE, Tempest, v. 1. How camest thou in this PICKLE?
1614. R. C., The Times’ Whistle [E.E.T.S.], 60, l. 1839.
| But they proceed till one drop[s] downe dead drunke,… | |
| And all the rest in a sweet PICKLE brought,… | |
| Lie downe beside him. |
1633. JONSON, The Tale of a Tub, iii. 5. I am now in a fine PICKLE.
1694. CROWNE, The Married Beau, iv. 1. Oh! pox! IN WHAT A PICKLE am I!
1697. VANBRUGH, The Provoked Wife, iv. 6. Sir J. [covered with dirt and blood]. What the plague does the woman squall for? Did you never see a man IN A PICKLE before?
1749. SMOLLETT, Gil Blas, IV. vi. Gentlemen,… I know this epicure; it is … the … rector of our university; notwithstanding THE PICKLE you see him in now, he is a great man … a little addicted to law-suits, a bottle, and a wench.
2. (colloquial).—A wag: specifically, a troublesome child: cf. PEREGRINE PICKLE (1751). Title. Hence PICKLED = roguish; waggish.—B. E. (c. 1696); GROSE (1785).
1706. FARQUHAR, The Recruiting Officer, v. 4. His poor boy Jack was the most comical bastard … a PICKLED dog; I shall never forget him.
1883. Harper’s Magazine, lxxvi. 140. Tummas was a PICKLE—a perfect ’andful.
3. (medical students’).—In pl. = specimens for dissection direct from the subject.
Verb. (common).—To humbug; TO GAMMON (q.v.).
IN PICKLE, adv. phr. (old).—Poxed or clapt.—B. E. (c. 1696); GROSE (1785).
A ROD IN PICKLE (or PISS), subs. phr. (colloquial).—A flogging or scolding in reserve; ‘a revenge in lavender.’—B. E. (c. 1696); GROSE (1785). [As in the old school rhyme:—‘ROD IN PICKLE, Rump to tickle.’ In the days of authority rods were pickled in urine or in brine, which elements, it was held, imparted toughness.]
1678. COTTON, Scarronides, or Virgil Travestie [Works (1725), 126].
| Therefore I think it not amiss for’s | |
| To launch, for there are RODS IN PISS for’s. |
